Nerve

By Ceri Lewis
My interest in the film:
I went to the Cinema De Lux in Leicester to watch Nerve which
is an American teen techno-thriller adventure film which I
wanted to see as the trailer was fast paced and edited well
which made a lasting impression on me which shows the trailer
was very effective. The trailer included a basic outline of the film
which told me that it was an online game of dares and when the
dares are completed money is won. The amount of money you
win increase as you complete more dares as the dares gradually
become more extreme and risky. The trailer interested me as
the editing for it with the soundtrack worked together very well
and it showed part of the dares without spoiling too much apart
from showing they made it to the final which I feel is a difficult
concept to achieve. I went to watch Nerve in Cinema on the 12th
of August 2016 but the film was released in the US on July the
27th 2016 by Lionsgate and on the 11th of August 2016 for the UK. This film is based on
a book which is also called Nerve and was written by Jeanne Ryan and a picture of the
cover of this book is included at the side. Looking at the description of this book I can
see the book and film are closely related which I can see from the plot and the
character names are kept the same.
Plot:
The plot of this film is that it begins showing the High School senior student Venus
Vee Delmonico who is starred by Emma Roberts who has been accepted into the
California Institute of the Arts and she is reminded whether to accept or to reject
admission on that day. Vee wants to leave her home of Staten Island to go to this
College but she is too scared to tell her Mother (played by Juliette Lewis) who wants
her to go to a local affordable college. Vees mother is still grieving over the recent
death of her son which tells us that this is why she doesnt want to let Vee go. The film
shows us that Sydney (played by Emily Meade) who is a friend of Vees is taking part
of this online game and Sydney briefly explains this game of Nerve to both Vee and
the audience. She tells us that Nerve is an online reality game where you can either
enlist as a watcher and pay to watch or you can enlist as a player. The player accept
dares from watchers and when they complete the dare a sum of money is transmitted
into their bank account. As you continue playing and completing dares the money
gradually increases and the dares become harder, all the dares are made up in the
comment section by the watchers who are just regular people who pay to watch the
players. If you dont accept the dare or fail at completing the dare you loose all the
money you have earned so far and you are eliminated as a player. The only way to
complete the game is to reach the final which is between two people but only one
player will win overall. Sydney and Vees friends feel that Vee doesnt take enough
risks in life and attempt to convince her to join the game as a player. They dare her in
the Caf they met in as a joke to go and talk to her crush J.P to which Vee refuses.
Sydney then goes to talk to him and tells him about Vees interest in him, in response
he states she isnt his type and Vee leaves mortified.
Vee signs up for Nerve as a player to prove to herself and her friends that is is capable
to take risks. The game collects data about her including bank information and
explained the three rules of the game: the player must not report the game to law
enforcement, all dares much be recorded on the players phone and earned money
will be removed if a player fails or bails a dare. She leaves with her friend Tommy

(played by Miles Heizer) to complete her first dare which is to kiss a stranger for five
second. They go to a restaurant and she chooses a guy reading her favourite book To
the Lighthouse and after the dare is completed he tells her that he is also a Nerve
player. His name is Ian (played by Dave Franco) and he is the other main character of
this film and they are then dared to go to the city together and the watchers seem to
like them to as a couple and they decide to team up, while this is going on Tommy is
secretly following them. Vee and Ian continue taking on risky dares such as trying on
expensive clothing but their own clothes are then stolen and theyre told to leave the
shop which they decide to do in their underwear. Vee is also dared to allow Ian to pick
her a tattoo which he decides on a lighthouse as he remembers thats her favourite
book. This team becomes very popular in Nerve and when Ian has to drive his
motorbike blindfolded at 60mph using Vee as his eyes Vees friends find out what
shes doing and Sydney seems very surprised and annoyed because Sydney is also a
popular nerve player but Vee and Ian are now the top-two players with the most
watchers. As the game receives your information, they also know your fears so when
Sydney asks her watchers for a risky dare to try and knock Vee out of the top spot,
she is dared to cross a ladder laid across two ten-story-high windows. Sydney ends up
bailing on this dare but then Ian is dared to bring Vee to the party Sydney is at and
after Vee catching Sydney in bed with J.P and them having an argument about their
friendship, Vee is dared to complete Sydneys dare which she does easily.
Understanding how dangerous this game is and shes angry at Ian for bringing her to
the party as a dare, she attempts to tell a cop about this which is breaking one of the
three rules. As a result of this, all the money not just the money shes won so far is
drained from her bank account and the only way to get it back is to win. Player Ty
(played by Machine Gun Kelly) then punches her unconscious to keep her out of
competition for the final round.
When Vee wakes up, Ian tells her about how he played Nerve last year with Ty and
another friend fell from a crane during a dare and died. Ian and Ty reported the game
to the police, and they lost their money, identities, and and became prisoners of the
game which is the third category. Prisoners cant opt out of dares and can only save
themselves by winning in the finals. Ian decides to get in second place to face Vee in
the finals and spare her life. Vee meets with Tommy and Sydney, who regrets the fight
with Vee, and they arrange a plan to end the game another way. Tommy asks his
friend Azhar (played by Samira Wiley) to try and overwrite Nerves open source code.
In the final, Vee and Ian are in an arena with masked watchers and they are both
dared to shoot the other and they both refuse. Ty then enters the arena and offers to
shot Ian himself and Vee shields Ians body with her own. Vee accuses the watchers of
being cowards as they hide behind masks and anonymous usernames while they
expect others to show nerve. Every watcher is given the choice to vote whether Ty
should kill or spare her, the majority choose to kill her and Ty fires. Thanks to Tommy
and Azhars efforts, a message appears on everyones screens who voted to kill Vee
replacing their usernames with their real names saying You are an accessory to
murder. This message prompts them to sigh out and once everyone has signed out
the game is over. While this is happening, Ian is cradling Vees body and points his
gun at Ty, but Vee who is still alive stops him. She reveals that Ty and herself with the
help of Sydney, arranged a fake killing with fake blood and blanks. Ian calls the day
their first date and reveals that his real name is Sam and they embrace while a
stranger take their picture. Afterwards, Vee and her mother are shown accepting
admission to CalArts and Vee graduates and moved to California. Vee is shown
maintaining her friendships and her relationship with Sam and they visit each other
often.
Directing:

The film is directed by Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman and they seem to of directed
together before as I discovered they directed Paranormal activity 3 and 4 which are
horror genre films and they have also directed Catfish which is an American
documentary film and it was apparently a critical and commercial success and it led to
an MTV reality TV series, Catfish: The TV Show. I have watched Paranormal Activity
before as I enjoy the horror genre but I didnt particular find the films very scary and I
didnt enjoy the plot but I loved Nerve and I really liked the plot so it came as a
surprise to me that it was the same directors in both of these films. I havent seen
Catfish but it seems to include online aspects such as the main character is sent song
covers but they are actually from YouTube and he starts an online relationship with a
girl. How it includes the internet a fair bit it doesnt surprise me that these are the
same directors as Nerve.
Henry Joost: I was unable to find his exact birthday but he was born in 1981 and he is
an American actor and filmmaker, best known for directing films with Ariel Schulman
such as Catfish, Paranormal Activity 3, Paranormal Activity 4 and Nerve.
Ariel Schulman: He was born October 1st 1981 and he is an American actor, film
director and producer and he is best known for starring in, producing and directing
Catfish and directing Nerve and the horror films Paranormal Activity 3 and 4 with
Henry Joost. Schulman and Joost founded the production company Supermarch. As
an actor, Schulman is best known for portraying himself in Catfish. His younger
brother Nev Schulman is the host of Catfish: The TV Show on MTV.
Audience:
Nerve has the age rating of 15 which means no one younger than 15 can see this film
at cinema which means that there may be violence or inappropriate language
involved. I would say the film would be targeted at around teenagers-young adults so
around the age 15-30. I think it would be targeted for this age group as the film is very
fast paced which generally appeals to younger audiences and the main character Vee
(Emma Roberts) is 25 years old and Ian/Sam (Dave Franco) is 31 but as Vee is a High
School senior Emma would be acting as if she was around 18 years old and Ian/Sam
wouldnt be much older than this Id imagine. So they would be relatable characters
especially as they have a romance going on in this film so I would say it would appeal
to teenagers and young adults. Older adults may enjoy it too but due to the aspect of
the internet generally being used for social media and dares is a game you play when
youre younger I feel this film would interest more of a younger audience than older.
Film studios and the cost making:
Nerve was produced by the production companies Allison Shearmur Productions, Keep
Your Head Productions and Supermarche and was distributed my Lionsgate and
appears to also be owned by Lionsgate. Nerve had a budget of $20 million but has a
Box Office so far of $47.6 million so this profit of $27.6 million shows that Nerve has a
high success rate. This film is very popular so would have a lot of screenings in
cinemas both in the UK and the US.
Cast:
Emma Roberts as Vee, the main protagonist and player of Nerve- Emma Roberts was
born on the 10th of February 1991 and she is an American Actress and singer. She has
starred in films such as Wild Child, Nancy Drew and Hotel for Dogs. She is the
daughter of Oscar-nominated actor Eric Roberts, and the niece of Oscar-winner Julia
Roberts. She was born in Rhinebeck, New York.
Dave Franco as Ian/Sam, Vees partner and fellow player in Nerve- Dave Franco was
born on the 12th of June 1985 and he is an American television and film actor. He has
starred in firms such as 21 Jump Street, Warm Bodies and Bad Neighbors. He was born
in Palo Alto, California.

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Juliette Lewis as Nancy, Vees mother- Juliette Lewis was born on the 21st of June 1973
and she is an American actress and singer. She has starred in films such as The Switch
and Metropia.
Emily Meade as Sydney, one of Vees friends- Emily Meade was born on the 10th of
January 1989 and is an American film and television actress. She has starred in films
such as Money Monster and That Awkward Moment.
Miles Heizer as Tommy, one of Vees friends- Miles Heizer was born on the 16th of May
1994 and is an American actor. He has starred in films such as Memoria and Rails and
Ties.
Kimiko Glenn as Liv, one of Vees friends- Kimiko Glenn was born on the 27th of June
1989 and is an American actress and singer. Shes known she portraying Brook Soso
in Orange Is the New Black.
Samira Wiley as Azhar, one of Tommys friends- Known for playing Poussey
Washington in Orange Is the New Black.
Ed Squires as Chuck- He has starred in films such as The Interestings and Coming
Through The Rye.
Brian Marc as J.P- He has starred in films such as White Girl and Major Crimes.
Eric D'Alessandro as Hype Boi- He is only known for Nerve.
Marc John Jefferies as Wes- He has starred in Spider Man 2 and did a voiceover for
Monsters Inc.
Colson "Machine Gun Kelly" Baker as Ty. He has starred in Beyond the Lights and
Punks Dead.
Casey Neistat as Himself, a player- He has starred in The Pleasure Of Being Robbed
and Daddy Long Legs.
Soundtracks:
-Can't Get Enough
-Kamikaze
-Percussion Music for Film
-Get Down
-I Dont Dream
-Soap
-Darken The Door
-Since I Dont have You
-You Got It
-Baby Bunny Sugar Honey
-Electric Love
-Into The Night
-Ride
-Give One More Chance
-C.R.E.A.M
-Hurricane
-Black Belts
-Invertebrate
-Mega Secrets
-Deep Down Low
-Bender
-Basically
-Okay
-Head Down Low
-Give Me More
-Crime Cutz
-Forget It
-Lucky I Got What I Want

-The Suns Gone Dim and The Skys Turned Black

Technical Specifications:
The film is 1 hour and 36 minutes long so overall it is 96 minutes long and the entire
film is in color. The Printed Film Format is Digital (Digital Cinema Package DCP) and
the Sound Mix is DTS (DTS: X) with an Aspect Ratio of 2.35:1. No information about
the types of editing used is available but I think perhaps CGI is used for particular
dares such as hanging from the crane and lying on a train track while the train passes
over you. Fast paced editing is used throughout the film as dares are supposed to give
an adrenaline rush and make you nervous so this type of editing is used to make the
audience also feel anxious. A lot of the film is also shown through smart phones, video
cameras, and on TV screens. By presenting the film through technology, the directors
are highlighting how much it has an impact on our lives. It also helps the audience feel
like they are part of the game. They also add overlays for tracking shots and title
cards flash on screen to reveal information and scores as the game goes on. This
makes the audience feel that they are watching both a film and a video game due to
the bright neon colors and sometimes futuristic style of filming. This mixed with the
fast paced editing will have a powerful effect on the audience as its supposed to make
them panicked and stressed which means they can relate to the characters emotions.
The soundtrack also plays a big part in this as if its very dynamic and powerful music
that would have a different effect on the audience like if it was soft and slow music.
This shows how different things work together to have an overall effec on the
audience.
Marketing:
Marketing is very important because this will be the first impression that you have on
the film so you need your trailer or form of advertisement to represent your film in a
way that will have a lasting impression on the audience without giving much of the
film away. In this case, for Nerve you need the advertisement to be strong, futuristic
and powerful and the trailer needs to be fast paced and brief but informative. This can
be done by explaining the game and showing a few dares without showing all of them.
-Posters

I like the teaser and official film poster as the teaser poster just demonstrates the
concept of the game whereas the official poster shows the scene for one of the dares
and represents the main characters in a bold and dynamic way. The official poster is
very eye catching and the main writing includes the main character actor names, the
tag line We Dare You, the date its out and the title down the middle.
- Nerve Official Trailer #1 (2016) - Emma Roberts, Dave Franco Movie HD-YouTube
The official trailer was very fast paced and when I saw it I immediately had a huge

interest in the film which shows it definitely appeals to my age group which is
teenagers. I did enjoy the trailer but I felt they shouldnt have included how Vee got to
the final as I felt that was spoiling too much and I think they shouldnt have revealed
as many of the dares as they did but I still was looking forward to the film and I did
really enjoy it.
-Social Media
Social Media is used as free advertisement as people will see other people talking
about the film and will then want to know what the film is all about. They will then
watch the trailer and this should make them have an interest for the film. This is an
effective way of advertisement as its free but will still get the film lots of publicity and
will make them money if people go on to watch it. This advertisement can also be
used by people recommending films to each other.
-Prints
Prints can be used by having paid advertisement in newspapers, magazines and
inserts in books. As this film is based on a book by Jeanne Ryan so she may have
advertised the film in her own other novels. This is an effective form of advertisement
as people that read a lot generally enjoy films too especially if its a film based off a
book. This means it will increase publicity by attracting a variety of audiences.
-Standees
Standees are paperboard life sized images of figures from the film and you generally
see them in cinemas or in film shops. This is a good form of advertisement as if you
see your favorite actor in a new film you will immediately want to see the film trailer.
Both Emma Roberts and Dave Franco are very popular actors so just having them as a
main character will bring in a lot of publicity.